Producers who use toxic chemicals to control insects in stored grain could soon have a green alternative.
Agriculture Canada scientist Russ Hynes said researchers in Saskatoon and Winnipeg are examining a naturally occurring component of field peas that shows promising potential as a bioinsecticide.
Hynes, who is heading a research project with Agriculture Canada colleagues Wes Taylor and Paul Fields, said PA1B peptide has shown significant potential in controlling insects that thrive in stored grain.
Discovery of the peptide’s unique properties came after a Saskatoon pea processor, Parrheim Foods, noticed an absence of grain insect infestations in their storage bins.
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Subsequent research identified the PA1B peptide as the component responsible for insect suppression.
Preliminary tests conducted in Winnipeg have shown encouraging results.
“This small peptide … is capable of suppressing growth and reproduction of stored grain insects,” Hynes said.
“As work progressed … we realized that it could potentially be used as a new green product for the grain storage industry and for farmers here in Western Canada.”
Hynes said the new bioinsecticide could have far reaching implications.
Widespread use of malathion and other chemicals can have costly repercussions for Canada’s grain and oilseed industries.
For example, the presence of malathion residues in grain and oilseed shipments can disrupt grain exports to key overseas markets.
In addition, there is growing concern that the widespread use of phosphine and other insecticides is contributing to chemical resistance in some insect species.
“We do look at this as being a replacement for the malathions and the phosphines that are currently being used,” Hynes said.
Access to an affordable bioinsecticide would reduce dependence on synthetic chemicals and create new markets for Canadian field peas, he added.
The BioProcessing Centre in Saskatoon is collaborating with Hynes’s research team and will process field peas into 500 kilogram batches of pea flour that contain high concentrations of the active PA1B ingredient.
Researchers hope to develop liquid and powdered formulations of PA1B that can easily be applied to grain.
“This was quite a novel discovery and it looked to be a win-win scenario for western Canadian farmers because we produce everything that we need to produce this product right here at home,” Hynes said.
“All we had to do was come up with an economic plan that would allow us to extract these small peptides and formulate them. We are very concerned about making sure that this is economical.… The extraction process uses very common ingredients … so we feel that we’ve got a good handle on the economics.”
Hynes’s research is one of 44 field crop, livestock and forage projects that will receive $5.7 million in funding this year from the Saskatchewan government’s Agriculture Development Fund. The funding was announced in early January.
